Just my personal opinion here, but I think that we are going to tend to drive to the traction limit of whatever tire we have on our cars. I know I do. So, yes, that limit might be slightly higher with one tire over another one, but getting to work is not a race (well, not officially, anyway ;-) ).
Just having any reasonable quality "high tech" snow tire on your car is going to give you the confidence and predictability that you need in the winter. I have had Michelin, Yokohama, Goodyear, and Canadian Tire (Nordic, made by Goodyear, and a while ago, Nordic made by Goodrich - same a Winter Slalom) on various Foci and Escorts. Some were bought new, some were used. All did the job nicely.
As a result, I shop price, with the confidence that whatever I get will be more than adequate to allow me to enjoy messing around in the snow. I still have to pay attention to how fast I am going, and what is going on around me.
Here is a chart that compares a bunch of brands. You will need to Zoom to read it:
http://picolio.auto123.com/art-images/12...-chart.jpg
I am glad to read that the Hankook i-Pike is recommended in a response to this thread above, because you can get those at at a good price at Canadian Tire.
Blizzaks are great, except that the "magic" rubber is just a layer over the regular rubber tread. As a result, they lose their winter performance edge somewhat earlier than tires that have the magic rubber all the way through (such as the Michelins). Of course, once a snow tire loses too much of its tread depth, it ceases to be much use in deep snow anyway.
As they used to say, my opinion, plus two bucks, will get you a cup of coffee.... Good luck with your choice
Bob